The first of a long line of ESSA projects in the Beaufort Sea as part of the Beaufort Environmental Monitoring Project (BEMP). We used conceptual models, called Impact Hypotheses, to evaluate impacts of oil and gas development. Aboriginal participants found the conceptual models much easier to understand when they were expressed as stories rather than box and arrow diagrams, and added invaluable knowledge. This project evolved an approach that ESSA has used successfully in over 60 projects since then.